https://phys.org/news/2018-11-unique-immunity-genes-widespread-coral.html

"This coral is traditionally thought of as a weed, and yet it may be one of the last corals to survive environmental changes such as climate change," said senior author of the study Nikki Traylor-Knowles, an assistant professor of marine biology and ecology at the UM Rosenstiel School.

To conduct the research, the scientists extracted and sequenced the genomic DNA from two healthy fragments and two bleached fragments of P. damicornis, which is one of the most abundant and widespread reef-building corals in the world. Their genome was then compared to publicly available genomes for several other coral species and several other cnidarian species.